


Wake Up and Smell the Life

by Lumelle



Series: The Way Things Ought to Be [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 19:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5428067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro wasn't supposed to wake up. Then, he's never been very good at doing as he's supposed to. Particularly if the alternative is making his sister upset.</p><p>All right, so perhaps it's Wanda who changes things, but Pietro's the one who's living, isn't he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wake Up and Smell the Life

**Author's Note:**

> **Please note** that this fic contains mentions of canonical death in the context of resurrection/fix-it. Please read accordingly.

It wasn't like Pietro had never woken up in a hospital bed attached to various machines before, but the not being strapped down part was kind of new. Not that he was complaining, mind. This was much better, but still kind of concerning.

He did get the feeling that getting up and running off might still not be a good idea. There were the machines, after all, and various tubes and such. Besides, he was aching all over, which was expected and strange at once. Yes, he could expect some pain, and hope for it to be dulled by whatever medications they had him on, not that painkillers usually did him much good. However, from what hazy memories he could scramble together there should have been some clearer pain in very specific areas — say, most of his back — instead of just a general ache.

Of course, going by his memories he wouldn't have expected to wake up at all, so perhaps that was another thing he shouldn't be complaining about.

Wherever he was, the place was pretty modern by the looks of it. There was a lot of white and shining surfaces, and the devices monitoring him looked brand new, not that he was necessarily an expert in such matters. No sign of anyone nearby, though, nor did he even hear voices in the corridor beyond the one door he could see. He couldn't even find a button he could press to summon someone to hopefully tell him what the hell was going on and where his sister was.

"This is stupid," he murmured, then winced at how rough his voice sounded. He probably couldn't have called out to anyone outside the room even if he had heard someone nearby.

The lights, which had been dim but enough to see by, brightened a little. "Should I take your assessment as a sign that you are now awake, Mister Maximoff?"

Pietro blinked, turning his head to look around. No, he was definitely still alone. Someone was speaking, though, a female voice from some source he couldn't quite pinpoint. "Who's there?"

"I am called Friday." Still the same voice, still with no clear source. "I am in charge of many things in this facility. Is there anything you require?"

Pietro swallowed. There were several things he could have asked for, but really, only one that was truly important. "Do you know where my sister is?"

"You are referring to Wanda Maximoff, yes? She is currently on the grounds of the facility. Would you like me to request her presence?"

"Please." He needed to see his sister, needed to make sure that she was all right, that he hadn't failed her entirely. "Ah. Where exactly am I?" Because 'facility' could mean many things, and few of them good.

"The New Avengers facility in upper-state New York. The team relocated here after Mister Stark decided to retire from active service on the team." Friday paused. "According to protocol, I am required to notify the medical personnel of your awake state."

"That's all right. As long as my sister comes here, I don't care about anything else." Not that he particularly cherished the idea of being poked at by strangers, but then it seemed they had already been doing so for quite some time.

As it happened, the first people to arrive weren't medical staff. The door practically burst open as Wanda rushed in, a strange man following her. Pietro vaguely remembered seeing him during the battle in Sokovia, but that was all he could recall before all his attention was taken by the much more important person right next to him.

"Pietro! Oh, I was so worried!" Wanda clutched his hand hard, then immediately let go as though afraid she might hurt him. Which was ridiculous. She could never hurt him, not even if she tried. Sure, he was too weak to even sit up on his own, but he could handle his sister's grip.

"Sorry to have worried you." He tried to lift his hand to brush a lock of hair from her face, but even that seemed like an unsurmountable challenge. He was simply too tired and weak. "What happened? Last I remember I'd just been shot down."

"I — that's what happened, more or less." Wanda lowered her eyes, and for a moment she looked so broken Pietro ached to hold her and tell her it would be all right. "You were dead, Pietro. You died and I could feel it."

"I'm sorry." Because that was the worst, causing her grief was so much worse than actually dying. At least when he'd thought he was dead he hadn't been in much pain. "I couldn't — I had to do it. But I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, you idiot." She lifted her eyes and Pietro was startled to see they were shining with tears, but there was a wavering smile on her lips. "You're alive now. And you'd better stay that way, do you hear me?"

"I will do my best." He let his eyes slide on to the man, studying his strange appearance, red skin and grand cape and all. He was hovering quite close to Wanda, which Pietro obviously found suspicious. "And who is this?"

"Ah. This is Vision. He's one of the Avengers." She gave the man a smile, and that surprised Pietro. He wasn't sure he'd seen her smiling in such a genuine way at anyone but himself since the day their parents died. "He has been very kind to me while we waited for you to wake up."

"A pleasure." Vision looked almost unnaturally calm as he nodded at Pietro. "I do not wish to interrupt, but I do believe there are other people who would wish to enter."

Pietro managed to move his head enough to look past Vision to the doorway, where he saw a couple of nurses and doctors looking in. Heh. At least they knew better than try to shoo Wanda away from him. "They can come in, as long as they don't expect Wanda to leave."

It seemed this was a compromise they could all work with. Vision stepped to the side of the room while Wanda hovered close, watching carefully as Pietro was poked and prodded and questioned in every possible way. However, she made no move to leave, nor did anyone even try to tell her to do so. Good. Pietro wasn't sure he was capable of a fight right now but he would have damn well made a fuss if they had taken his sister from him.

At last they announced that he was improving, made some further statements that he could only barely decipher, and filed out of the room after making some adjustments to the medication dripping into his arm. Pietro almost reminded them to take his metabolism into account, but then figured Wanda had probably already told them to do so. It wasn't like she didn't know, after all the time they had spent as experimental subjects.

"So, I'm alive." Evidently. "Anyone care to enlighten me as to how?"

"It's… well, it's me. And the doctors. And a little bit of Vision." Wanda bit her lip as though she wasn't sure how he would react. "It's, they have this machine that can repair tissue damage, it's the same one Ultron used to create his new body, not that he got it." At this, she glanced at Vision, who nodded at her with something resembling a smile. "That might have helped, except by the time we got you somewhere safe to be treated, it was too late. They did everything they could, Clint wouldn't let them stop, but it didn't really matter if they could heal your wounds when they couldn't bring you back."

"Makes sense." He nodded slowly. "I wasn't exactly expecting to survive. Good to know I was right."

"It's not good in any way!" Well, at least if she could snap at him she couldn't be too terribly traumatized in the end. Or if she was, she would recover. "You were dead, Pietro! I felt you being torn away from me, I felt you die, and I thought I'd have to be all alone!"

"Wanda… Wanda, sis, I'm sorry." He was, so very sorry, for all that he wouldn't have changed a thing. "But… how am I here, then?"

"Wanda brought you back." Vision's voice was quiet, but he heard it well enough. "I lent her the power — well, the gem I bear is the source, not I, all I did was act as a conduit. With that power, and her determination, she brought you back when you should have been gone."

"They didn't think it had worked at first," Wanda murmured, her hands clutched together as she wouldn't quite look at him. "And even when it seemed you were alive, they said — they said you might have had too much brain damage already. That even if they got your body working again, you might not wake up ever again."

"Well, I'm awake. And while I won't say I'm feeling great, exactly, I'm not planning on going away any time soon." Though he might not stay awake for long, given how exhausted he felt. "I'm alive, Wanda. We both are. That's what matters."

"You're right. That's what matters." She nodded with a watery little smile. "I, ah. I did something you might not like?"

"And what's that?" If it was something involving Vision, he was going to — well, it wasn't like there was much he could do, but he would definitely glower. A lot.

"You see… I might have kind of joined the Avengers."

"The Avengers?" Pietro lifted his eyebrows. "Like, the people we were fighting against?"

"But we weren't, though. We were fighting Stark, and even he is not as bad as we thought." Pietro opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again when Wanda shook his head. "Perhaps he used to be, but he's not. I saw his worst fear, Pietro, I was inside his mind. Whatever he may have done before, he is not the same man now. I can see that now that I'm not so blinded with my anger."

"You can't be sure about that." They could never be sure.

"No. But I do know that choosing to side with Ultron was a mistake, and that the Avengers risked their own lives to save civilians. I know which side I want to fight on, I know which side I chose during the battle." She took his hand again, though this time her grasp was gentler. "You chose that side, too."

"In a rather dramatic fashion, I must say." Vision didn't waver as they both turned to look at him. "The Avengers would welcome you as well, Mister Maximoff, once you have recovered. Of course, you are under no obligation to join. If you do not wish to do so, I am sure we can help you settle elsewhere."

"And be separated from Wanda? I don't think so." Pietro chuckled. "Besides, you can call me Pietro. I might not know you that well, but it seems my sister is very fond of you. You might as well learn my name now if you're going to be family anyway."

"Pietro!" Wanda sounded more embarrassed than angry in her protest, so clearly he'd hit the nail on the head. Vision, however, merely nodded.

"Very well. I will remember this."

"Good." Pietro sank deeper into his pillows, eyes closing for a moment before he opened one of them again to peer at Vision. "You'd better take good care of my sister until I can get out of this bed," he said. "I'll be very upset if you don't."

There was some sort of a response, another protest from Wanda and solemn words from Vision, but he didn't really hear, too close to sleep already. It would be fine, either way. They could discuss this, and the Avengers, and everything else when he woke up again.

He would wake up again.


End file.
